Bio

2 thoughts on “Bio”

I agree – last night I went to our local library and listened to Wm Kent Krueger and all I could think about were the boilerplate authors (like him???) that turn out book after book of easy, quick reads and are making enough money to do it full time. where/when do we read the original, unique fiction of new authors, struggling along and who we will likely never meet. so few people realize how filtered our options are. . .I read your blog – introduced to it by my cube-mate Kelly, Roseau (your relative????)

Glad you’re reading the blog! Yes, Kelly is my first cousin. Her late father is my dad’s brother.

I have the benefit of living in Portland, OR which is definitely a town for the voracious reader. A lot of indie/unknown folks come through here because a lot of people in Portland will take a chance on someone they’ve never read or even heard of simply because they love undiscovered things.

But if you don’t live around here (like Northern MN!), I think the best way to discover new material is to follow the Twitter of an author you like because they often make recommendations. A lot of times the boilerplate guys and gals are cranking out those books because they sell, but they actually are discerning readers themselves. Stephen King may be the most famous of these. He’s got great taste! Have you ever read his book On Writing? Largely considered to be the best book ever about writing… interesting even if you’re not a writer! But yeah, that’s the big thing about the self-publishing world… the public doesn’t have to rely on the publishers to find interesting work. The long tail of the niche interest! Something Netflix used to champion, but appears to be moving away from. Hopefully Amazon sticks to it.

Anyway, drop me a line any time if you want suggestions. co[at]oneillwriter.com